Basic Research

Western scientists dissect a North Korea volcano cutoff by diplomatic sanctions

By Nsikan Akpan

One of the first collaborations by North Korean and Western scientists peers into the underbelly of a mammoth volcano.

This supernova blast was so close, it littered the ocean floor with radioactive dust

By Nsikan Akpan

Radioactive stardust confirms the two closest supernovae to ever explode near Earth. The most recent of the pair may have altered human evolution.

This ancient arachnid ushered in the spider uprising

By Nsikan Akpan

X-ray scans of a 305-million-year old fossil have unlocked a new chapter in the spider origin story.

New cousin of El Niño may forecast summer heat waves months in advance

By Nsikan Akpan

A new climate model, based on a cauldron of Pacific ocean water, may soon be able to predict heat waves 7 weeks before they happen.

New tetraquark particle sparks doubts

By Clara Moskowitz, Scientific American

The Large Hadron Collider particle accelerator failed to confirm the Tevatron accelerator’s discovery of a new arrangement of quarks.

How many synthetic genes does it take to sustain life?

By Nsikan Akpan

By nailing down the genetic ingredients for life, synthetic biologists at the J. Craig Venter Institute may have redefined the rules for what's essential for survival.

Tourist photos trace the fall and rise of Swedish seabirds

By Nsikan Akpan

Amateur photography is an untapped resource for ecology research, according to a new study from Sweden.

What we’ve learned about Pluto since the flyby

By Nsikan Akpan

NASA's New Horizons mission to Pluto continues to astonish in new set of five studies on the dwarf planet.

Before T-rex became humongous, it learned to hear footsteps

By Nsikan Akpan

Tyrannosaurus rex, the behemoth king of the late ages of the dinosaurs, grew its brain before its noteworthy body. That’s according to scientists at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, who today unveiled the fossils for a new species…